Reviews

Compact and light, but the support arm locks are a…

Compact and light, but the support arm locks are a problem.
My recommendation: Buy a different stove.

Pros

Lightweight

Compact

Cons

Arms are difficult to fold after use

One support arm bracket broke on 7th use

This is a good-looking little stove which I've used for only three days, boiling water for breakfast and dinner on the trail.

Problem: The support arms are very difficult to fold for packing after using the stove, and getting more difficult after each use. One of the attachment points has started to twist so that the arms are no longer level. It's only a matter of time till the attachment fails completely, I think.

Edit: I went downstairs to check the stove once more, to make sure I wasn't exaggerating the problem and one of the spot-welded support arm clips sheared from the burner head.

I've contacted (by email) the Primus Canadian and USA distributors and I will post the results from customer support.

UPDATE: I got a quick reply via email (next business day) from the Canadian Primus distributor ('Rob' at Red Pine Outdoor). That's where the 'service' ended: there were two unsatisfactory suggestions (fix it yourself after buying spare part from Primus USA (!); return it to the out-of-business retailer where you bought it) and no help.

Primus (Brunton) USA didn't reply promptly to my email, so I phoned customer support in CO (1-800-443-4871) and spoke with 'Tyler' who phoned me back within an hour (I didn't want to go to the expense of shipping back the stove, so needed an 'exception') to get my shipping address. A replacement stove is on the way. Excellent response!

I'll post here with updates on the replacement.

UPDATE 2: The 'replacement' stove arrived quickly....it was the heavier and cheaper ($45 vs $67 for the MicronTi) Express stove with a different system for the folding legs. My conclusion is that Primus US wasn't confident that another MicronTi wouldn't have the same problem with the folding legs. I'd rather have something reliable than save a few ounces, anyway.

My conclusion: A stove with non-folding arms would be less trouble, even if it took more space. Primus should re-design the locking clips for the folding arms.